Sinbad the Sailor by Nadir Quinto (1918-1994), an Italian artist, born in Milan

The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad
bu Mahmoud Abdelaziz

[Webshaykh’s Note: This last semester I taught an Honors Seminar on the Arabian Nights. The last assignment asked students to write the 8th voyage of Sindbad, drawing on what happened in earlier voyages. I will post several of these here for your enjoyment. This is the fourth one I am publishing by Mahmoud Abdelaziz. The third is by Peter Otis. The second is by Marissa Priest. For the first by Taryn Teurfs, click here.]

{Sindbad the Porter said to Sindbad the Sailor, “For God’s sake, pardon me the wrong I did you,” and they continued to enjoy their fellowship and friendship, in all cheer and joy, until there came to them death, the destroyer of delights, sunderer of companies, wrecker of palaces, and builder of tombs (The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad)}.

Angels with black faces descended from the heavens carrying rough haircloth and sat around Sindbad the Sailor in throngs stretching as far as the eye can see. Sindbad’s entire body was paralyzed with fear, including his vocal cords, which he could not get to vibrate in the least in order to make even the slightest utterance. Then the Angel of Death came and sat at his head and said, “Foul soul, come out to the wrath and anger of Allah!” Then his soul divided up in his body and it was dragged out like a skewer is pulled out of wet wool. Sindbad screeched in torment from the excruciating pain of his soul’s inertial desire to remain in his body clinging to this world. Then the Angel took hold of it. When he had grasped it, the other angels did not leave it in his hand even for the twinkling of an eye. They took it and wrapped it in the rough haircloth and a stench came out of it like the worst stench of a corpse on the face of the earth.

Then they took it up and whenever they took it past a company of angels, they asked, “Who is this foul soul?” and the angels with the soul replied, “Sindbad the Sailor, son of Sindbad the revered Imam of Baghdad, father of Sindbad the acclaimed doctor of all the orient—” But before Sindbad’s soul could feel even a modicum of pride, the angels continued, using the worst names by which people used to call him in this world—“slave to his own desires, worshipper of the dunya, the self-indulgent Sindbad the Sailor who had forsaken his family to pursue his own selfish interests.” Upon hearing his own atrocities and misdeeds, Sindbad’s soul began weeping with guilt and regret. The angels brought him to the lowest heaven and asked for the gate to be opened for him. It did not open. As verse forty of chapter seven of the Holy Qur’an, the Divine Guidance for mankind, reads:

To those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance,
No opening will there be of the gates of heaven,
Nor will they enter the garden,
Until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle:
Such is Our reward for those in sin.

Thus, Sindbad’s soul was flung down to the lowest earth, rejected from the heavens, and returned to his body. He found himself in a grave, which was made so narrow for him that his ribs were pressed together, and a man with a hideous face, filthy clothing, and a foul odor approached him and said, “Grieve on account of what has brought you disgrace for this is the day which you were promised.” Sindbad asked, “Who are you? Yours is a face which presages evil.” The man replied, “I am your bad actions.” Suddenly, the gates of Hell burst open and a hot blast hit his face and the man showed Sindbad his eternal abode and ushered him inside. Sindbad saw three groups of people. There were those who were driven like cattle and forced to eat the bitter fruit of the tree of Zaqqum and driven on to the hot stones of Hell. Sindbad asked the man who these people were and the man replied, “These are people who did not purify their property by paying Zakat and their punishment is such.” Then they passed by a group of people screaming with their mouths gaping open while they devoured hot coals, which came out of their anuses. Sindbad again asked about the condition of these people and the man replied, “These are people who consumed the property of orphans and their punishment is such.” The third group that they encountered were people who were cracking open their heads with a stone. Every time they did this, their heads were restored to what they were like in the first place. This went on and on without stopping. Sindbad reluctantly asked who they were and the man replied, “These are the people who turned away from the prayer and their punishment is such.” The man continued, “And as Time as the ultimate witness to all events, you shall suffer the same punishments as all three of these groups of people for you had not given in charity despite the riches God blessed you with; you built your large estate over an orphanage without caring about what would become of the orphans; and you had not established prayer a day in your life.”

Before Sindbad could try to defend his actions, he remembered a saying by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

Do no indulge a person
Who blames the vice to pardon the man.
The truth is reversed,
The sin is in the mind addicted to self-indulgence,
The vice is whatever was near.

Then he heard a voice from deep within the pit of Fire laughing with a shriek and saying, “Sindbad, my emissary of evil, the one who heard my whispers and followed without reluctance, follow me once more into this Hell and receive the punishment that you were warned of, but foolishly ignored thinking that you could make your own destiny and combat the will of The All-Knowing, The All-Seeing.” However, Sindbad adamantly refused and started running back out of the gates and pleaded for a second chance from his Lord: “Lord! Please do not let the Last Hour come. Send me back to earth and I promise to do good and follow in the footsteps of mankind’s role model, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.” But his Lord denied him, as there are no second chances when one is given so many signs and warnings in their life. Without any warning though, a pair of black arms enshrouded in flames surged out of the gates of the Fire and grabbed Sindbad by the heels and dragged him on his face into the fiery abyss. All the while, Sindbad was screaming and crying and pleading, until he suddenly awoke from slumber in a hospital bed with his wife and son surrounding him.

Sindbad’s wife explained to him that he had a heart attack and actually flat-lined for a moment, but the doctors, mainly his own son, was able to resuscitate and stabilize him. Sindbad was in utter disbelief, but incredibly grateful and immediately began thanking and praising the Almighty Allah. But Sindbad knew this was not enough and that he must change his ways in order to change his fate. He then remembered the ninety-seventh verse from the third chapter of the Qur’an:

In [Mecca] are Signs Manifest;
The Station of Abraham (for example);
Whoever enters it attains security;
Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,-
Those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith,
Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.

Therefore, Sindbad at the age of 99 years had determined to perform Hajj and to take his family with him. Thus, they took the necessary provisions and embarked on the journey from Baghdad to Mecca. At this point, Sindbad was reminded of the words of the poet who said:

O you unmindful to death, deceived by vain hopes,
You will leave this life within a short time.
You desire to join the good people,
But without taking the required provisions.
Don’t trust the life of this world and its decorations,
Because you will not stay here.
Now you wait to see what will come tomorrow
And after tomorrow, but hope may betray you.
Your youth has gone forever, and
You are now an old man with neither amusement nor argument.
Why do we distract ourselves with the life of this world,
Whereas it is offering the people many pleasures
That hide serious diseases in them.

Sindbad’s wife, Sumayyah, was an expert navigator and cartographer and was well acquainted with the sea and land routes to Mecca. They decided to take the scenic route to Mecca by sea. According to Sumayyah, they would take a ferry to the southeastern port city of Umm Qasr and travel in between Saudi Arabia and Iran, until they reached the Gulf of Oman. They would then enter the Arabian Sea and hook around the “boot” composed of Oman and Yemen and enter the Red Sea by way of the Gulf of Aden. Finally, they would enter the western port of Jeddah and make their way to Mecca with the caravans of other pilgrims.

After traveling about 2000 kilometers, Sindbad and his family had exhausted nearly all their provisions and were exhausted themselves. So, they were forced to port in the city of Aden in Yemen. On their way to a local shop, they encountered something very strange. They heard murmurs of prayer coming out of one of the vases in the market. Sindbad peered inside it and saw a man crouched down, who stopped his murmurs and stared at Sindbad. He then smiled and said, “Salam my friend, do you happen to want to purchase this fine vase? If you do, I will surely get out and find another vase to hide in, although I did admire the craftsmanship of this particular vase. You certainly have a good eye for finely crafted vases, my friend.” Sindbad, confused, replied by saying, “I don’t want a stupid vase. Why are you hiding in a vase and what exactly are you hiding from?” The man said, “I will answer your inquiries if you help pull me out of this vase, for I’m a little stuck you see.” So, Sindbad assisted the man, and after doing so, the vase unexpectedly shattered into tiny pieces from some sort of invisible, yet familiarly menacing force, losing only its function and none of its beauty, which was now strewn all across the ground. They all gazed at the pieces that sparkled when the sun’s rays struck, forcing even the light to reflect randomly in all directions in shame upon beholding the sheer beauty that was contained within each piece of the vase. They all stood still and were mesmerized by the spectacle before their eyes. The owner of the vase came and started yelling at them as he swept up the pieces, “What the hell are you guys staring at; it’s garbage now; it’s a broken vase and if you break it you buy it.” They all rolled their eyes back and began whistling. Sindbad turned to the man and the man said, “Don’t look at me; I’m just a man from a vase that you insisted on pulling me out of.” Sindbad was forced to pay the owner of the vase with some of the dinars he had planned to give in charity. Upset at this turn of events, he told the man that his story better be worth all this trouble. So, they all went into a nearby café and the man began his story.

It turned out that the man had been an anthropologist in Yemen for many years, working primarily with old agricultural documents. He would give many lectures about various topics at Sana’a University. He was also married to the university president’s daughter, but all his troubles started when his wife tragically died due to unknown causes. Surprisingly, the people of Sana’a had a strange tradition that made the anthropologist even more distraught: when a spouse died, the other spouse must be buried with them even if they are still alive. He could not escape his fate and was indeed buried with his wife. He had nearly given up when he realized where he had been buried. It was a land that was used for the cultivation of sorghum nearly a century ago, but the landscape was currently being used as a cemetery. The anthropologist had translated many documents concerning this particular piece of land and knew of an irrigation canal that lay underneath. Realizing that this may be his only means of escape, he frantically searched for the canal for three whole days and finally found it. He followed the canal to the very end, which led to a well on the outskirts of the city. A wandering Bedouin by the name of Mahmoud happened to pass by the well and helped him out after having remained there for about a day and a night. The anthropologist then made his way to Aden, where he knew he would be safe, or so he thought. Mahmoud the Bedouin had related his experience to the commoners in the city of Sana’a, as he was fond of telling stories, and people knew him to be no liar. Word eventually got around to the university president, who was outraged at the anthropologist’s betrayal of tradition. He immediately sent out a search party for the anthropologist to get him back, dead or alive. The anthropologist had gotten word that the search party was in the city of Aden. Frightened, he decided to hide in a vase and pray for his safety.

Everyone looked in amazement upon hearing such a bizarre story. Suddenly, a group of thugs came bursting through the doors of the café, demanding from anyone information regarding the anthropologist as they showed people a picture to see if they could identify him. Sindbad and his crew managed to slip out the back with the anthropologist, who pleaded with them to allow him their company for a while. Sindbad agreed and together they made their way to the ship, replenishing their resources along the way. The anthropologist was very grateful and inquired about where Sindbad and his family were heading. Sindbad answered, “We are making Hajj and I hope to do good in this world and change my fate, so that when I depart for the next world, I will receive only glad tidings from my Lord having earned his pleasure.” The anthropologist replied, “It is a noble endeavor, but more importantly I know I will be safe in the Holy City.”

After traveling only about 200 kilometers from Aden, a fiery whirlwind struck their ship. They had not seen anything like it before. It caused a steam that was difficult to navigate through and the sheer power and dense pressure of the whirlwind thrust their ship into all directions. Sindbad managed to see a menacing face in the core of the whirlwind that made his heart still. Eventually, a familiar pair of hands threw them way off course and they washed up on an unfamiliar island. It was covered in jungle as far as the eye could see. They decided to explore the island a bit and recover some of the trees’ fruits, seeing as they still had three months before Hajj began. Sindbad noticed some enormous footsteps and they were fresh. Everyone seemed to be in a state of amazement and confusion as to what could possible cause such a large imprint in the ground. However, Sindbad knew, for he saw the like of these footsteps once before. Alas, they had reached the Abode of the Killer Apes. No sooner did they hear a loud screech and a thumping; the ground was vibrating and from beyond a distance appeared a creature the size of their entire ship. Behind him, a large group of apes followed. Their leader began by saying, “Welcome to the Island of Madagascar. We are the Green Monkeys. Who are you?” Astounded by the apes ability to articulate words, Sindbad fearfully replied, “We mean no harm. We were on our way to Mecca for the holy pilgrimage when were suddenly attacked by a fiery whirlwind of unimaginable power.” The ape leader then said, “Ah, you must be talking about Iblis. Only Jinn like him can appear in such a form, but I don’t know exactly why he attacked you, other than the fact that he is the Devil, after all.” Of course, deep down Sindbad already had these suspicions from his experience in the market in Aden, but he was too afraid to believe it. He knew the Devil was trying to distract him from obeying Allah’s commands.

Curious, Sindbad asked the ape leader, “Why aren’t you attacking us? I have been on the Island of Apes before and I was driven out by frightening creatures, such as yourselves, no offense.” The ape leader replied, “You must be talking about those crazy Chimpanzees on the Indian subcontinent. Those Chimps are such baboons. We are always mistaken for them. On the contrary, we are a group of highly civilized Monkeys. We were once used for scientific experiments, but we slowly learned from our masters and eventually, became more intelligent than them. Over the years, we quickly evolved into the beings we are today, and we have created this civilization and dedicated our time to learning the sciences and studying all types of literature.” Sindbad and his crew lived with the Monkeys for a month in order to rest and recuperate, during which the Monkeys helped rebuild the ship and supply them with necessary provisions for the rest of their journey. Eventually, it was time to return to the sea. However, the anthropologist decided to remain on the island because he fell in love with the literature that the Monkeys were able to amass and he was astounded by their entire civilization and wanted to learn more. Therefore, everyone said their goodbyes and Sindbad and his family returned to the sea.

The crew had traveled 5000 kilometers and finally reached the port city of Jeddah. There were two weeks left before the prescribed time of Hajj. They found a group of pilgrims who were also planning to make Hajj as they were all dressed in Ihram, which they too donned in preparation. They all climbed onto a sand yacht and sailed the sands of Arabia and finally made it to Mecca within two weeks, at which point they circumambulated the Ka’bah. They began the rituals of Hajj on the eighth day of the month of Dhul Hijjah. By the tenth day of Dhul Hijjah, they moved on to the village of Mina. There were three white pillars at Mina representing the Devil. On this third day of rituals, Sindbad and his son and his wife made it to these pillars, where they saw thousands of other pilgrims ready to throw stones, as is the ritual. However, there was one man in Ihram who was urging the people not to waste their time throwing stones at inanimate objects. Sindbad, who had obtained a transparency of heart and clarity of mind from his experiences thus far, immediately saw through this façade. He warned the people that this man was Iblis taking the form of a pilgrim and he was trying to turn people away from performing their sacred duties to their Lord. Then Sindbad proclaimed aloud to all the pilgrims, “Will you not perform your duty to Allah, our Creator, our Sustainer, and resist the temptations of the Devil, just as Abraham did when he was about to sacrifice Isma’il for the sake of God?” Thus, Sindbad, his family, and all of the pilgrims each threw seven pebbles at the Jamrat-ul-Aqabah whilst proclaiming God’s greatness and drove the Devil away.

Upon completing the Hajj and shaving his head, Sindbad had underwent a complete metamorphosis. He gave alms to the poor from his great riches and he sacrificed a sheep and donated the meat to the needy. He sent a message to Baghdad to transform his huge estate into a mosque as well as an orphanage. Throughout his journey, he had also been offering his prayers regularly. Ultimately, Sindbad decided not to return to his original home in Baghdad, but to stay in the Holy City, home to all Muslims. He had given all his wealth to charity and freed many slaves with a saying from the great Amir, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, in his mind: “You will never obtain the reward in the Hereafter by a means that is better than abandoning the pleasures of the life of this world.” In addition, it is just as the poet said:

Man should take the minimum possible of the worldly pleasures,
Because he is leaving for a fixed appointment;
Turn his eyes away from this life and its ornaments,
Make all the efforts to keep away from its lusts,
Because it is a place of temporary pleasures and trials,
And all the people in it will perish.

Indeed, Sindbad finally passed away while praying salatul-Fajr in the early morning at the age of 100 years. However, this time angels with faces as bright as the sun descended from the heavens and sat around him in throngs stretching as far as the eye can see.